Cooking Up a Chef!

You heard it right, folks!

eHire has helped Becky McMillian, a chef, find a new home...in Pittsfield, Vermont.

Long story short, Becky began searching for her next career move in Austin, Texas. Originally from the NYC area, she had her eyes set on moving back up to the Northeast. She used eHire's services to make this next move where her path crossed with Joe DeSena, the successful NYC stockbroker-turned-owner of Pittsfield's Riverside Farm and original General Store.

Becky quickly learned that DeSena was looking for a young, hard-working, quick-thinking and vibrant chef who knew a lot about the hospitality field, and that he needed someone to manage The Amee Farm (a residence owned by one of DeSena's business partners), and to be the face of his other businesses. During the first 2 months of interviewing on the phone and communicating through e-mail, DeSena put Becky in touch with one of his friends, Shaun, who lived in Austin, Texas. Becky's first real test was to cook for Shaun, and after Shaun gave her the thumbs up to go on to Vermont to meet with DeSena, Becky flew to Vermont to meet DeSena and his staff.

There, DeSena tested Becky again, put her in the kitchen, and made her prove herself again by cooking dinner - consisting of Grilled NY Strip Steak with a Balsamic Glaze, Sage Cheddar Mashed Potatoes and Caramelized Tomato and Corn Salsa - for 8 people in roughly 30 minutes.

It was clear to Becky that she passed this test as DeSena invited her back for 3 weeks to see if she could handle the final test and last step of the interview process: how her work ethic would respond while being away from home, living in an extremely small town, and managing a large work-load. She knew the key was to be focused...and remain focused. She knew DeSena wouldn't accept anything less.

After her 3 week trial was over, DeSena offered Becky a deal for her to move to Vermont. Becky graciously took his offer.

Why was she so grateful? Because she recognized the opportunity that DeSena was giving her...a chance to build a business with her ideas and to start new businesses that would economically expand the town of Pittsfield, Vermont.

Becky is now part of the Pittsfield family and growing town, and feels both fortunate and empowered knowing her input can drastically impact the town in a positive way.

DeSena and eHire are confident that Becky's hopes of Pittsfield will come true: "Hopefully one day you can see the DeSena team in a history book where Chapter 1 would be 'How The DeSena Team Grew a Village Into a Vibrant City.'"

An Online Career Store?

In both my work and personal lives, I have always been proactive with the use of advancing technologies. I firmly believe that technology has always and will always help ignite a successful future, no matter what endeavor you choose in life. Agree or disagree with this article, I only hope you take the time to read my words of, what I truly think, are wisdom.

As we all know, 1992 marked the real beginning of the World Wide Web, which was a huge mile-stone for technology. Just for a second, I want you to imagine yourself living before the World Wide Web. Can you picture a store where you would take a roll of film so that your photos could be developed? I can. Now, picture this – a store where you would take a resume so that your career could be developed. A store existing not just to find your first or next job, but to actually enhance your entire career by helping you manage each of your career moves, effectively molding and solidifying your entire future.

Fast forward to today, where all sorts of web-related tools continue to knock on our technological-oriented doors. We have seen Google make its impact, we have seen eBay make its impact, and in the social networking arena, we have seen Facebook make its impact on our lives. But have we seen that career-related store morph into a reliable online networking community, using simple web software and personalization tools, to truly help people develop entire careers and futures yet? No. And it’s only a matter of time.

It is this Online Career Store that is missing from our technological-oriented lives. And it is this Online Career Store that will become a reality, becoming the next technological mile-stone – perhaps not as massive as the World Wide Web, but definitely big enough to positively impact a lot of people. And that would be a very good thing.